Lauren Stender: Virgin 22

Lauren Stender: Virgin 22

Color plays a prominent role in all of Stender's paintings. Removing this from her toolkit forced a new direction for her work. The spiritual and religious theme in "Virgin 22" forces the viewer to bring their own color to this beautiful grayscale painting. Textured and layered, "Virgin 22" provides a glimpse into Stender's deep spiritual soul, her struggles, her joy and her dreams.

Lauren Stender is a New York City based Artist. She studied Printmaking at Rhode Island School of Design and Psychology at Brown University. She also holds a Technical Footwear Design Degree from ARS Sutoria in Milan, Italy. During her 15 year career as a Shoe Designer, Lauren traveled extensively and worked primarily in Dongguan, China.

Lauren's self-expression through her work is greatly inspired by her life experiences. Her technique is extensive layering of Mixed Media comprised of reappropriated posted bills combined with drawing and painting. Each series holds repetitive imagery as honed from her printmaking practice.

Her most recent collection is a series of 12 works inspired by Our Lady of Guadaloupe. The history of the miraculous image originated on December 12, 1531 in the Hills of Tepeyac, Mexico City. The themes in surrendering and allowing Miracles to enter have proven to be beyond ones wildest dreams. Lauren begins each piece with an underlay of written prayer and wishes for others as a dedication to healing and a spiritual growth.